Foreshadow: The First Step
First Contact Sand blew through a fairly secluded town on the western borders of Fiore. Not much was going on in the streets, as it was clear the entire populace was stricken with poverty. Outside the small law office, a man donning sunglasses and a rust colored shirt dragged a trio of men up to the entrance, apparently unbothered by the blowing sand. He opened the door with his shoulder to bring the men inside, only to emerge after a few moments with a small bag of jewels in hand. Another man was trudging his way into the town, his cloak covered in the dusty sands that, invariably, were attracted to his person. It had been many miles, long and tiresome, with little to eat or drink. This man was the type who probably lived on simply through sheer force of will, if such a human could exist. He walked all this way to turn in a mission and to perhaps make some semblance of money off it. He had a letter to deliver, nothing more. For this man, that was a rarity, doing a legal job to get money. But, at the moment, water and food were top priority. He made a beeline for the law office, wanting to get into the shade as quick as possible. After a few moments of walking around, he lowered his hood, sure no one would be able to recognize him. Long midnight blue hair kept tied back and eyes as grey as slate. This was the Seller, Rei Mokuzai. In this remote town, it was unlikely many could have placed his name and face together, and for that he was grateful, because the heat was unbearable. Just as he removed his hood, the sands seemed to settle for a moment, as if it was reacting to the actions of the cloaked man. The new range of vision reviled another man leaning on the wall of the office, counting an array of objects in the palm of his hand. Seeing something out of the corned of his eye, he glanced up to see the now man, no longer hidden by the sandstorm. he studied him for a moment, though couldn't see much but his long hair and a pair of cold eyes staring back at him. He didn't recognise him, but felt compelled to start up a conversation anyways. "New to town I take it?" He flashed him a grin as a sigh of friendship, reviling a row of pointed teeth. "Yep." Rei replied with a smile of his own. He'd normally ignore people, especially so close to an office. It'd be rather unfortunate. "I just walked in not long ago. I was wondering, would it be ok if I drop a letter off here?" his tone was sincere at the very least, if not downright showing nativity. "You can do whatever you want. I ain't on the payroll" He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder at the office wall, then gave a small chuckle. "Don't think this is the post office though." He glanced around the street, but found it just as baron as before he had entered the law office. He pushed himself off the wall and extended a hand to this new acquaintance. "Name's Rift Grimm. Don't think I got yours though." "You can call me Rei. Hope ya don't mind if I keep my surname a secret." He said, shaking the other man's hand. He looked away, feigning embarrassment. "Mind showing me to the post office? I really, really need to drop off this letter. I offered to run it here since the guy who wanted to deliver it lived way out in the middle of the dunes, and it wouldn't make sense to have him waste his time if I'm already out this way." Rift seemed taken aback by Rei's explanation. "Wow, real forth coming ain't yeah?" he grinned again, then began rubbing the back of his head as if he was embarrassed. "But uh, truth be told? I ain't from around here ether, sorry to disappoint ya." He glanced around the streets again, though this time more at the buildings rather than the lack of people. "I ain't apposed to giving you a hand finding the place though, if you don't mind the company that is?" Rei nodded and smiled again. "Company would be great at the moment." With that said, he looked around, mostly at the buildings but his eyes took in a noticeable lack of people. Probably all inside to get away from the heat. he told himself, which that seemed logical. With even just his quick glace around, he knew this town, could see it in his mind's eye on a milder day, it would be bustling as any other town. "Is it me or does this town seem rather empty?" he asked, almost without thinking. "Everyone's probably just avoiding the sandstorm. Only people with somewhere to go would be out in this" Rift said simply, before nodding to Rei's cloak. "Thought you'd know that, wearing something like that on a hot ass day like today." "That old man gave me a few Jewels and this cloak for my trouble. I only accepted because I was aware the of the storm." What Rei didn't admit was the storm assailed the town because he used Beelzebub, a demon bound to him via a dark rite, to blow away a dune that was much too high to scale over. Rift grinned a bit. "Mighty nice of ya, but I think he would have understood." He looked back down the road he initially came from, then nodded his head in the same direction. "Center of town's that way. I don't know if the post office is their, but it sure as hell ain't here, so it's as good a place as any to start ." Rei nodded before starting to walk to the center of town. He wanted to get there before the storm abated and people flocked out again. Waiting had posed both a risk and a reward. The risk was that someone amid the throng would recognize him but the reward was that vanishing could be an easy feat, ducking and weaving through the crowd, "Coming Rift-san?" Rift walked up beside him, but waved his hand as if he was saying goodbye. "No need for the formal stuff. Just Rift." The pair of them walked for a bit, though the only sound that could be heard was the soft hissing of the sand in the wind. Slowly growing tired of the silence between them, Rift figured he's start up a conversation. "So if you're not from around here, where do you usually hang your hat?" "I wander a lot, flitting about from town to town, offering my services to those who ask for it. I figure, I have talents, why not make use of them? Being alone, however, gets old. I think I'll settle down when I have a fortune to spend so I don't need to work too much away from those I care for. Go ahead, call me a tad idealistic. I think, personally, if you can't spend time with friends and family near the end, then your beginning was a pretty bad one." Rei replied, hoping he could alter the subject with a bit of philosophy. He feared Rift would make the, admittedly correct, assumption of his status as a Dark Mage and turn him in. "Ah, a ronin are yea?" Rift nudged him with his elbow, before having a small laugh and slipping his hands into his pockets. "Well, if your lookin' for a place to settle down, there's a guild a few country's away that i'm a part of. It's a little out of the way, but it's a pretty nice place to kick back. If your interested, after your done with your mailman job, I can show you around the place. See if you take a liking to it?" "Sure. I'd like that Rift. Maybe I'll start calling that place home." Rei suddenly stopped. The sand flurries had begun to kick up again, he could feel the air change subtly, thanks to Beelzebub's magic. And this time, it wasn't his fault. This has gotta be the worst bit of luck I've ever had. "Rift, you might want to put a hood up, get inside, something. The storm's kicking up again." Gone was the innocent fool, replaced with the cold calculating killer that he was. He needed Rift to listen, the quickest way was to become serious for a moment or two. With a quick motion he put his hood back up. "Don't worry, it's just a short one." He added, becoming worried, feeling the eddy inch closer. "Sand doesn't bother me." Rift said, simply pushing his shades higher up on his face. "Watch this." He was simply bragging, but he the knuckles of his fist in the palm of his other hand, then slammed both down on the ground. Almost instantly, a metal dome 12 feet across formed over the pair of them. Only a small amount of light made it's way in from a gap between the base of the dome and the sand, but they where protected from the storm. "Sand can ware down buildings quite a bit..." Rei heard Rift say in the dark, over the sound of the increasing wind speed outside. "But it'll take years to eat through something like this." Rei smirked as the walls went up. His new aquaintence was interesting at least. "Impressive magic. I bet you had to practice for a while to get good enough to block sandstorms." he commented offhand as a reply to Rift's statement. Stuck within the confines of the dome, he couldn't feel the winds outside, despite the gap near the base of the dome. That sixth sense, now rendered dead, made Rei feel uneasy. Despite their being next to no light, Rift was able to pick up on Rei's discomfort. Judging by the whistling coming from the gap, the winds hadn't died down, so going outside wasn't an option. "You ain't claustrophobic are you?" He was about to make a gesture, but realised it was a useless effort with no light. "Sorry if I sort of boxed you in." Rei growled. "No, it was the smartest choice you could have made given the circumstances. Besides, I could care less about being caged like an animal. As long as the sand stays out. I'm fine." Silently he thanked whatever god there was that at least for now, he could keep from activating Beelzebub again and risk his sanity. "Let me know if you get warm. I can cool this dome of yours down with my magic. With it being a closed space, I don't need to waste as much energy cooling down two people." "I'm good." He hear Rift say, immediately followed by the sound od sand shuffling. Rei looked in Rift's direction, and could tell by the shadow's that he was now laying down. "Place that guild I was tellin' you about is more tropical than most. I can take the heat no problem." Rei knelt down and laid his sword across his lap and began meditating, focusing to supress his inner demon's will with his own. Only such meditation and focus seemed to put the unholy beast to rest for a short time, giving him at least some time without the constant fear of possession. All Rift would hear from him would be his slow, controlled breathes, a sign he was intently focused on the single task. For a few minuets, the pair of them sat silently in darkness, listening to the wind howl by outside. it got to the point that if they hadn't known better, the both of then could have sworn that they where alone. "You sure your alright in here Rei? You got real quiet all of a sudden." Rei barely moved other than to reply. "Yeah. I'm just meditating. It helps me relax, ya know?" He didn't want to mention having one of the most powerful spirits in history bound to his soul, or try to explain what he planned on doing with it, not yet anyway. "Hey, whatever works for you." Rei saw a slight flash in Rift's shades as he glanced outside. "But I think we're just about done here." The of the wind died down, and Rift stood up and flip the metal dome off of them. Sand had built up in just about every crevasse along the street, though their didn't appear to be any damage other than that. "Well, that could have been worse. So what to get on with that mailman job?" Rei stood up and slung his sword across his back. "Let's get it over with." he said. "I gotta question though, what was with the flash of light I saw a second ago? Ya know, just before you flipped the dome over?" Rift looked confused for a moment, then took of his shades to look at them, revealing a pair of deep red eyes. "Oh, probably the sun or something. These things can reflect even the smallest bit of light." he placed them back on his face. "It's makes for some pretty cool dramatic effects don't ya' think?" He laughed again as he nudged Rei with his elbow. Rei shook his head. "Dramatic? Try frightening. When I saw that flash, I didn't know what to expect. I had no idea glasses could get THAT reflective.What kind of material are they made out of?" He asked, unable to think of any known substance that could be so reflective with so little light. Rift seemed puzzled. "Didn't take you for the skittish type." He hung his shades by the caller of his shirt. "But far as I know, they're just normal shades. Sort of a necessity though, or so I've found." Now Rei was puzzled, so Rift continued. "You'd be amazed how hard it is to get a job with red eyes." He laughed to himself, as they continued walking down the street.